people in wichita, kansas could be hit the hardest this time with yet another foot of snow. here at home, a lot of moisture coming our way. there's not snow, though. a lot of rain. flood watch already in effect for tomorrow. doug kammerer. anything but nasty, a very nice evening tonight. 46 degrees. the wind is calm. it will be a nice one as you make your way into early tomorrow morning. i think tomorrow morning's rush hour, no problem at all. look at this moisture. you mention the snow back toward the west. we have tornado watches to the south, blizzard warnings to the north and all of this mess is headed our way. what are we going to see? a flood watch is in effect for the day tomorrow. that you includes fairfax county, prince george's county, anne arundel and up towards howard. back toward the west, this will be a different story. this could be freezing rain and sleet especially areas above 1,000 feet. that's why we have a winter

weather advisory for martinsb g martinsburg, winchester. a mess for sure. this is what you can expect. rain starting around noon, a cold and nasty afternoon. tomorrow afternoon's rush hour. we'll wait until i show you what to expect. that coming up in a moment. we continue to follow breaking news. a judge declared a mistrial in the murder case against jason scott. a detective on the witness stand today is reason why scott will have to be retried for the murders of dolores and ebony dewitt. mother and daughter. news 4's dorothy spencer talked to "the apprentice" state's attorney to find out why. darcy? >> reporter: "the apprentice" state's attorney here says the mistrial was declared after the detective made an innocent slip of the tongue. that mistake was costly. the judge sent home the jury and countless witnesses after weeks of testimony. a judge ordered a mistrial in the jason scott case after an atf agent testified that scott

had been involved in multiple home invasions. a judge had earlier ruled that only one home invasion cowl be referenced at trial. the judge said the testimony could sway the jury. so jurors were sent home, prosecutors will have to start from scratch. >> obviously we respect the decision of the court. i know that the judge in this case was -- acted in an abundance of cost. this does nothing to negatively impact our case. >> reporter: scott is a former ups worker on trial for the brutal double murder of dolores dewitt and her daughter ebony in 2009 in prince george's county. prosecutors say scott will be retried for the crimes but it will be difficult putting the family through another trial. >> they wanted closure, you know? the grandmother looked at me and said you don't know what it feels like to have spent the last several holidays without my daughter and granddaughter. this is painful. >> reporter: the prosecutors here stress that there is no way that jason scott is getting out of jail. he's already serving 100 years

in prison on federal charges and a new trial has already been scheduled in this case. that's in october. reporting live from upper marboro, darcy spencer, news 4. >> thank you. only four days until sequestration kicks in. president obama is asking congress for a bit of compromise. meanwhile, a short time ago, house speaker john boehner said it is time to cut spending in washington. $83 billion in across-the-board from spending cuts are at stake. steve handelsman on capitol hill now where there's not been a whole lot of negotiating going on. steve? >> no progress reported, jim. a lot of political posturing continues here on the hill. democrats led by the president trying to make sequester look terrible. republicans, they have governors involved today are saying, look, this whole thing doesn't have to be so bad. but both sides have basically given up on trying to stop these automatic spending cuts.

lawmakers return to the house and the senate is back in session. but with no deal, no talks reported under way to put off sequester friday, president obama pressured republicans. >> these cuts do not have to happen. congress can turn them off any time with just a little bit of compromise. >> reporter: republicans won't compromise on taxes. >> listen, the president says we have to have another tax increase in order to avoid the sequester. well, mr. president, you got your tax increase. it's time to cut spending here in washington. >> reporter: more pressure, the white house sent out 50 reports detailing how the 83 billion in cuts would impact each state. in alabama, for example, 27,000 defense department employees would be furloughed. 2,100 kids would not get needed vaccines. but at the white house today, governors were split about what lawmakers ought to do. daniel malloy of connecticut, a

democrat. >> they need to get out of that box that sets under the dome and understand that this has real implications in people's lives. >> reporter: republican bobby injdle ll ll lle -- jindal of says it is okay. >> the president needs to stop campaigning. >> i don't think we can maintain the same level of security at all places around the country with sequester. >> reporter: at columbus, mississippi, they're getting set to shut the airport's control tower. most agree, the cuts are coming. and republicans are charging that president obama is and will maximize the effects of sequestration to try to make them look bad. i'm steve handelsman, news 4. taking a closer look at some of the numbers now, a white house reports civilian employees for the department of defense will be among those most

affected by the budget cuts. in d.c., virginia and maryland, nearly 150,000 workers could face furloughs, that includes 13,000 in d.c., 46,000 in maryland and 90,000 across virginia. the estimated loss of pay among all those workers would top $1.1 billion. small businesses who deal with those workers could also see the pain of the budget cuts. news 4's chris gordon talks with business owners in prince george's county who express their concerns to maryland senator ben cardin today. >> reporter: prince george's county is slowly emerging from the recession but sequestration could deal businesses here a setback. >> it's going to have cuts. it will have to take cuts to our employees, cuts to wage increases and people not being able to expand. >> reporter: about how many employees could the sequester affect. >> about 15. >> that's crazy. >> reporter: senator cardin spoke to this gathering of small business owners in prince george's county who are

concerned what sequestration means. >> one of the major problems with these across the board cuts, they take effect for any length of time they'll have a major drag on our economy. >> reporter: sequestration could have a devastating impact here in prince george's county where approximately 10% of the jobs are with the federal government. sequestration's impact here includes federal furloughs which could result in $120 million of lost income. federal procurement cuts causing $250 million in lost revenues. and federal aid to education, a $5 million reduction. >> if funding for government contracts, for example, should become scarce or disappear, then that certainly will reduce our opportunities to continue to operate, not to mention growth and expansion. >> i think it's unlikely that we'll reach an agreement before

march 1st. i hope we'll reach an agreement shortly thereafter and i would like to see it long term dealing with the entire ten years and let's get this over with and start doing the business of this nation and putting the interest of our country first. >> reporter: and yet many federal workers tonight still have not been told what will happen to them if sequestration takes affect this friday. doreen and jim. >> chris gordon, thank you. coming up at 6:30, the impact of sequestration on travel for people in our area. check out nbcwashington.com for a look at how the budget cuts could impact programs where you live. just search sequestration. tonight, we hear from the mother of a local honor roll student who was killed on his way to school. prince george's county bureau chief tracee wilkins is at police headquarters now with the latest on the murder of marckel ross. tracee? >> reporter: elizabeth ross is a mother of six. she says she knows she will never be the same after the

murder of her son marckel. >> i don't know how to feel, really, because i've been so stressed and depressed behind the matter. now the day has come. >> reporter: i've spoken with marckel ross' mother elizabeth several times over the last six months. the day her son was shot, the day high school students had a memorial and released balloons for him and the day of his funeral. i have never seen her as at ease as she was today after the news of an arrest in her son's murder. >> i'm saddened but i'm happy that they have the person and i'm hoping that it's only one person. >> reporter: police say 20-year-old travon bennett of charles county shot marckel in an attempted robbery but he never took anything from him. police say bennett would go on to commit other armed robberies using the same gun that he allegedly used to kill ross. >> this person needs to be tried to the fullest and get his

conviction. >> reporter: mrs. ross has a display case in her living room honoring his memory. >> he is an angel. that's what gets me through the days. >> reporter: she says she prefers isolation nowadays, avoiding tv, news and newspapers. she said she's just hearing about the alarming trend of teen murders in the county. >> i understand other kids in the area had passed away. due to a gun. and my heart goes out to their family and their family has my condolence. >> reporter: she's not only praying to are all of the mothers who have lost, she's also praying for the mother of her son's accused killer as well. >> pray for his mother, too. pray for his whole family because if you are raising a child and your child grow up to be a killer, and he has no mental problem or whatever, whatever the cause is, you just don't take people lightly because they have something you want. >> reporter: ross says she plans on spending every day in court when bennett goes to trial. reporting live in palmer park,

i'm tracee wilkins, news 4. >> thank you, tracee. police today also announced an arrest in the murder of 71-year-old geraldine mcintyre. she was killed earlier this month after she was stabbed several times had her house in capitol heights. the suspect in that case is 46-year-old james alphonso ward. police think robbery was the motive. they say ward stole a tv from mcintyre's house. investigators ruled that fire that killed those two young sisters in myersville, maryland ab an accident. the blaze broke out on january 31st at a house on highland avenue. 6-year-old sophie and 3-year-old mattigan died. their parents and two other sisters survived. frederick county fire officials say that drapes in the family's living room caught fire next to a base board heater. next on news 4 at 6:00, a diet that could cut your risk of heart problems by 0%. also ahead, a major development for women who take calcium and vitamin d supplements after

menopause. >> there's a big hole on the memorial bridge after a driver plowed into the water. we'll tell you why crews brought in a robot to check out the damage. and an online petition is gaining strength after some drivers in virginia would have to pay more money.

you're watching news 4 at 6:00.

rebels in syria say they have proof they shot down a military helicopter near the city of aleppo. activists released video today. it claims to show the moments after a missile hit the helicopter on sunday. nbc news cannot verify this video. rebels say the helicopter attack happened within hours of a government's air strike on damascus. today, opposition leaders turned down the syrian government's request for formal talks to end the violence there. for years now doctors have been telling women to take vitamin d and calcium supplements to keep their bones strong and healthy. today an independent panel of medical experts, the same group that made those controversial recommendings about ma'ample gras nearly four years ago is refuting that saying that the supplements may have no benefit whatsoever. >> i know that several of the older women in my family had fallen when they were elderly, broke hips. you know, i don't want to be part of that. >> reporter: so like millions of

women, 53-year-old laurie zambruski takes calcium and vitamin d supplements every day. >> i heard the research that calcium was good for women who were through menopause to prevent osteoporosis and bone degeneration. >> reporter: according to new recommendings just released by the u.s. preventative services task force there's not enough evidence that calcium and vitamin d supplements have any benefit when it comes to preventing fractures in women after menopause. more specifically, the guidelines say that in low doses the supplements have no benefit and cowl even contribute to causing kidney stones. >> it doesn't say the calcium and vitamin d are necessarily horrible things but that the evidence to take them to prevent an osteoporatic fracture are missing. >> reporter: at age 5 doctors have been recommending that women start the supplements.

he says the new guidelines aren't surprising. more and more evidence is mounting against using supplements. this reinforces the idea that diet and physical activity are best when it comes to getting all the vitamins and minerals we need. >> lots of fruits and  vegetables, milk or other dairy products that have calcium. for vitamin d we get that from primarily the sunlight. >> reporter: laurie says she's been doing that alongside taking supplements anyway. now she's questioning whether it's worth it to keep buying the pills. >> if it's of no value, why am i spending the money and time and everything else to do it? >> reporter: the council for responsible nutrition, the industry groupi representing th supplement manufacturers. they are concerned that these guidelines present a limited view of all the scientific data that's out there. bottom line, if you're taking these supplements you may want

to the have a conversation with your doctor about whether to continue and at what dosage. another new study finds that eating a mediterranean diet can greatly reduce your risk for heart problems. the study looked at 7,500 people in spain over a five her year period, those who ate lots of fruit, fish, beans, salads, olive oil and wine were 30% less likely to have cardiovascular problems. most of those people were already taking medication for high cholesterol and high blood pressure and continued to take them during the study. researchers say this shows that diet can sometimes be as important as medication in preventing heart problems. doug's here with more about our weather forecast. a nice couple of days and that's about to change on us, isn't it? >> it's going to change in a very big way. tomorrow could be the fast nest day we've seen so far. not saying a whole lot. we haven't had a whole lot of real nasty days. tomorrow could be the one.

right now, a few clouds looking off towards the distance. the sun went down about 20 minutes ago or so. 5:58 this evening. 5:57ord today, we saw a high temperature of 48 degrees, below the average high. the average high is 50 degrees for the first time this year, so the temperatures continue to go up, at least the averages do. a big storm moving in tonight and into the day tomorrow. currently 46 degrees at the airport, the winds are calm, no problems here. we'll see a nice evening. it will be cool but that's what you expect in the middle to later portions of february. notice, 36 already in winchester, 43 in frederick. not cold but cool. we are going to cool quickly tonight. to anything that starts back to the west could start off as frozen precipitation. we'll talk more about that. storm team 4 radar, all clear. out to the west we're watching this monster storm. blizzard warnings to the west, 60, 70, even 80 mile-an-hour

winds reported. down to the south, severe weather, tornado watches, louisiana over towards alabama and mississippi. down through portions of florida and all of that moisture is moving our way. we're not going to see severe weather here. this is not going to be a snow threat for us but some of us would still deal with wintry precipitation. nice weather with plenty of sunshine today. after what was a beautiful sunday. tomorrow, rain and wind, again, incredibly nasty. back toward the west, some of the higher elevations, snow, freezing rain and sleet will be what you'll be dealing with back towards portions of the mountains. southern maryland, down towards portions of virginia, heavy rain possible. 1 to 2 inches. cold, nasty afternoon, wind chills in the 30s all day. with the wind chill of 35 and heavy rain, that's where you get the nasty weather coming in. flood watch including baltimore and down toward washington, including montgomery county, prince george's, anna rundle, arlington and fairfax county.

they'll see a lot of rain back towards the west but you need more for flooding back here. speaking of the western areas, how about west of i-81 and some of the higher elevations, maybe over a thousand feet or so. you could see freezing rain or sleet. hagerstown, winchester, luray, watch out driving tomorrow. could see a tenth of an inch of ice. some areas more than that. watch out for that. that's not going to be a problem around d.c. we'll be too warm here. it will be a very messy afternoon. by wednesday, that storm system moves out. we become milder. i think we'll see a nice wednesday although winds will be gusty. winds by tomorrow could be gusting upwards of 30 to 45 miles per hour. bring the umbrella tomorrow. you'll need it by late afternoon. rain by afternoon, some heavy and becoming windy. the winds gusting to 45 miles an hour.

with high temperatures between 38 and 45 you see what kind of day we're talking about. 58 on wednesday, that's the warmest day as we're in between two storm systems. another cold front comes through. why not stay in the 40s for the rest of february. as we start off for march we'll start off well below average the first weekend in march, very chilly, highs in the mid-40s. a chance of flurries both days. stormy pattern shaping up. >> tomorrow, a nasty day, wednesday not so bad. >> not so bad wednesday. tomorrow, whew! >> thanks, doug. a guy was driving an suv last night on memorial bridge going to virginia. for some reason and somehow or another he crossed three lanes of oncoming traffic, jumped the curb and plowed that suv through a heavy concrete rail right into the potomac river. fortunately, the man was not seriously hurt. even got out of the car and walked ashore. >> the speed is the thing that had to have amazed me to be able

to clear about a one-foot curb and then clear another one-foot curb and take all this concrete with it, pretty impressive speed i'd say. >> u.s. park police are not identifying the charges. they say charges are enpending. inspectors checked out that bridge to make sure it's safe. they used a robot, one of the tools used to check out the safety. it uses ground-penetrating radar, ultrasonic waves and high definition imaging to determine whether concrete or steel reinforcement is deteriorating. other bridges in our area will be tested over the next few days. some northern virginia hybrid car owners have found a new way to vent about opposition to a fee. a bill approved by lawmakers doubles the registration fee from $50 to $100. as northern virginian bureau chief reports, many local hybrid

drivers hope their signatures might change some minds. >> reporter: the vote on virginia's massive transportation funding plan was just hours old before some lawmakers set out to change the measure, launching a petition drive to strip the so-called hybrid tax out of the bill. the legislation brings $3.5 billion to road, rail and transit projects through a complicated combination of new taxes and fees. perhaps the most controversial, a $100 annual fee on hybrids and other alternative fuel vehicles. >> well, i don't think that's a very good idea. we pay the car, we pay the gas. >> reporter: this driver and others who don't like the sound of the fee now have this online petition as an outlet. it was just put up by fairfax county delegate scott suribel. >> we're hoping it shows the governor that there's a lot of anger out there about the singling out of alternative

energy vehicles. and that he'll reconsider keeping that in the plan at the end of the day. >> reporter: governor bob mcdonnell says he'll review all aspects of the bill before deciding whether to recommend any amendments. he defends the hybrid fee as a way to share upkeep of the roads to every driver. the petition had 500 signatures within just the first few hours it was available online. the lawmakers plan to deliver it to governor bob mcdonald next month. in mcclain, jewelry carey, news 4. the attorney for the man who shot ronald reagan makes a plea in court today. what john hinckley is seeking now. coming up in sports, a couple of cats going to be sticking around. the terps taking their show on the road and we catch

you're watching news 4 at 6:00. there's mixed reaction tonight to the decision by the d.c. council to reprimand one of its own members. the council voted 11-220 reprimand ward 1 council member jim graham for ethics violations. tom sherwood joins us now. >> it means this ethics flare-up

is over but ethics remain a serious political issue. >> reporter: council chairman fill mendelson offered a resolution to reprimand jim graham for his unethical but not illegal attempt to politically influence contracts for both the city and for the metro system. graham had his committee aseenments reduced as the chairman spoke about the evidence against him. >> and there have been three investigations. each of the investigations lead to the conclusion that the district's code of conduct was breached. >> yes. >> reporter: the council voted 11-220 reprimand graham, only ward 8 council member marion barry sided with graham. >> when every member of this council may be subject to this. it may happen to jim graham today. everybody on this council on a daily basis, weekly basis, makes them arrangements, trade votes on this or that. >> reporter: citizen activists had mixed reactions on whether graham was sufficiently punishe